CAMELS MISS OUT ON LEG-BYE THRILLER

WCC v HARRY BALDWIN XI

HBXI 147 (39 overs)

WCC 147-9 (36 overs)

Match drawn with scores level.

A game chiefly distinguished by the dullness of its play and an outfield so rough even the local dogs avoid it was unexpectedly transformed into a pulsating thriller as dusk fell over Regent's Park. Inmates of the zoo's camel enclosure beyond the third-man boundary had long since lost interest and retired indoors by the time the excitement began. But those dromedaries missed a finish as gripping as anything since their forebears were skippered by Lawrence of Arabia.

After five and a half attritional hours it came down to three runs needed off the final ball with the Weekenders' last pair at the wicket. Dibley swung, missed and ran a leg-bye.  His partner King then called for an insane, suicidal second which was hurled equally insanely wide of the stumps and the scores were levelled. Many hours later it occurred to someone in the pub that our Antipodean heroes should have risked a kamikaze third run since they had nothing to lose. However King bats in the trousers formerly known as Tendulkar's and there is only so much undignified scampering a pair of strides can take.

A game that bores the polyester pants off everyone then turns into a raging arse-nipper in the final hour holds a special appeal for cricketers - like a prodigal son returning. Firkins of celebratory beer were duly downed along with fatted-calf flavoured crisps while the fag butts continued to accumulate on the pavement outside the Queens in Primrose Hill until midnight.

The turning point of game happened well into the final twenty overs when Pat Marshall embarked on a resplendent 50, batting with a horribly broken finger which only provoked yells of agony on the two occasions he missed the ball. He and Douglas added 69 in nine overs. In keeping with the club's tradition both batsmen got themselves out and generously left it to the tail to finish the job in the dark - which they so nearly did. When Pat returned to the cheering dressing room his proud eleven year-old son Dan, having also just done himself justice with ball and bat, asked 'Dad, where's the nearest curry house?' And so the flaming Weekenders torch passes down the generations.

HB XI

May 43, Strange 25, Mosefied 25

Douglas 9-1-21-0, Orwell 7-0-22-1, Dibley 12-3-28-2, Lyons 7-0-37-1, Hudson 3-0-15-3, D Marshall 1-0-3-0

Catches: Phillips 1, Douglas 1

WCC

Orwell 1, De Silva 19, Hudson 13, Phillips 11, D Marshall 1, Still 0, Douglas 29, P. Marshall 50, King 1*, Lyons 6, Dibley 0*

Estead 12-1-30-6

Debut: S. Phillips.

Man of the Match: Mark d'Inverno for raising a side at such short notice and collecting £100 in match fees from an opposing side containing no fewer than three actors.